A/N: Long time, huh? The reason why is that, the sickness described in this chapter? Yeah, that's what I had, so I'm writing this one from experience. I missed a week and a half of school, not to mention a very eventful week and a half, so I spent the next two weeks playing catch-up while simultaneously working on the constant stream of new assignments. I had four tests over the course of three days! And still more tests outside of those three days. I'm still not caught up.

Things within their household fell into a sort of routine.

Luffy had gotten his own bed, which was moved into Ace's room by his own request. Ace still had to check underneath it for monsters every night, but Luffy was no longer as anxious about being left alone.

Once a day, Zoro would be given a pinch of food pellets they had gotten at a pet store. After a couple days of this, Luffy had noticed that the pellets still remained at the bottom of the cup and worried that Zoro wasn't eating right. Ace had taken to sneaking down into the kitchen each night and clean the food pellets out to make it look like Zoro had eaten.

Ace and Law had both become accustomed to disinfecting the counters before cooking, to which Luffy said he didn't mind since he was already used to it. Despite their efforts, however, Luffy had still gotten sick.

The first symptoms were coughing and sniffling, followed shortly by laryngitis. Then he was sneezing, multiple times and very often. His nose was very clogged, forcing him to breathe through his mouth most of the time, and his eyes watered and swelled almost entirely shut. He was getting the chills, he was suffering from vertigo, he was pale, his heartbeat was faster than anyone's should be, especially someone who had been staying in bed and resting, and, for some reason, he'd been hiccupping constantly for the last few days. Law and Ace found that he needed someone with him at all times to attend to him.

However, life persisted, as it so often did. The two college students did have classes to attend, after all, and they couldn't be home all the time. Luckily, they managed to create a schedule that had at least one of them home while the other had classes. Currently, Ace was attending a lecture and Law was staying to take care of Luffy, who was asleep.

Almost imperceptible under the wet cloth on his forehead, the boy's eyelids began to twitch. They slowly opened into a watery squint, but hurriedly crashed shut again with a whimpering yelp of protest at the bright light.

Luffy felt someone lean over him. "What's wrong? Are you cold?" Biting back another hiccup, he shook his head. Noticing the volatile glow seeping through his closed eyes, he brought a hand up to cover them. "The light? Is it the light?"

Seeing Luffy nod, Law jumped to his feet and quickly went to turn the lights off. Instantly, the ill boy sagged in relief and gave Law a small, thankful smile. The elder merely sighed and dragged a hand through Luffy's hair, earning an appreciative sound in response.

A knock came from the door.

"Just a minute," Law raised his voice slightly, hoping not to disturb Luffy but still be heard by whoever was knocking. He whispered to the boy, "You'll be okay by yourself for just a little while, right? This can't take too long."

He tucked the blanket up to Luffy's chin — quite redundantly, he'd done the same thing three times in the last half hour and it had still yet to move enough to warrant so — and made his way out of Ace and Luffy's room, through the living area and to the door.

"You're looking banjaxed," his visitor greeted in a rough Irish accent. Oh, fuck no. It's one of Ace's Irish friends.

"Gee, thanks, Nami. Now could you please just get to the point of why you're here so this doesn't take any longer than it has to? I have obligations."

"Whoa, what's on with you? You're usually…" she searched for a word, "…more polite."

"Just get on with it," he insisted.

"I'm here to pick up my fish tank, if Ace hasn't made a bags of it by now." She was talking annoyingly slow, as if she were purposely trying to get on his nerves. "But I thought, maybe if he were home we could get fluthered or something. Now what is on with you?"

"Oh, nothing, just taking care of Ace's sick little brother who needs constant attention, thank you. So—"

"Wait just a — brother? Ace never told me he had a brother!" she complained.

Law weighed his words. He knew that Nami had a short temper and he didn't want to bring anything more against himself accidently. "Well, it's kind of a long-lost, newly-discovered brotherhood deal. I'm sure he just hasn't found the time."

"That's guff! I talked to him yesterday!" She glanced around the dorm as if she were searching for someone. "Where is he? I need to see this brother."

"He's resting in Ace's room— Hey, wait!"

She'd already taken off.

When Nami opened the door, she wasn't sure what she was expecting to see. Whatever it was, it wasn't the darkness she was met with. After her eyes adjusted, she could make out a small figure in the bed opposite the door. The size surprised her, as she had been expecting someone either closer or further in age to Ace, but the boy she saw was roughly in the middle of the two extremes.

He was shivering. Nami had been about to greet him and introduce herself when he sneezed so violently it catapulted him from lying down into a sitting position. She waited patiently as he sneezed seven more times before it stopped.

"Hello, lil' fella," she murmured, gently pushing him back down to the bed. "I'm Nami. What's your name?"

The boy muttered something incomprehensible, and she heard Law say from behind her, "His name's Luffy."

She turned to see him leaning against the doorframe. "How old is he?"

"Fifteen," Law answered.

"So, a seven years difference between them, then? I was half expecting to come in here and see either a twenty year old or a toddler." She chuckled to herself.

Law snorted.

Luffy hiccupped.

A brief silence encompassed the room, during which Law ascertained that Nami didn't plan on leaving any time soon. She certainly didn't seem eager to leave, calmly analysing Luffy — probably looking for the resemblance between him and Ace — as she was.

"If you don't intend to leave," he acquiesced, knowing fully well how stubborn she could be, "can you do me a small favour?"

"Depends," she drawled. "What?"

He jabbed a thumb in the direction of the door. "I have to make some phone calls, but I can't leave the kid alone in his state. You wouldn't mind watching him for a few minutes, would you?"

"Not at all." She waved a hand leisurely with a pleased smile. "Go on."

"Great. The tissue box is on the bedside table there, and keep his head elevated. It'll make breathing easier on him."

"So," she muttered to the boy as the door shut softly behind Law. Luffy opened one watery eye to look at her. "Do you want anything while I'm here?"

He hummed, mulling it over for a second before offering a weak smile and rasping, "Song?"

She blinked. "Ah, sure. Has Ace ever sung to you before?" Getting a nod in response, she rolled her eyes and continued, "And I bet I know what song it was, too. He only knows one. He wouldn't know any at all, if I hadn't spent two months making sure that gobdaw had 'Keep You In Peace' memorised."

Luffy's smile widened. He let out in a breathy whisper, "I like that song."

"Want me to sing it?" An affirmative grin. "Alright. Warm be the sun that shines upon you…"

Phones had always seemed painfully loud to Law. As such, he held it a lengths away from his ear every time he used one, and now was no exception.

After what felt like an eternity of ringing, a click signified someone picking up on the other end. "Hello?"

"Hello. Is this Doctor Kureha?"

"It is. Who's speaking?"

"My name is Law, I'm one of Luffy's new guardians. He's sick."

"I see. Symptoms?"

"Laryngitis, stuffed nose, coughing, sneezing, vertigo, chills, expedited heart rate, watery eyes, and hiccups. He's also complained of headaches."

"Does he have a fever?"

"A small one."

"Does he have an appetite? How much has he been resting?"

"He hasn't had an appetite at all, and he hasn't left his bed since he got sick — except for the bathroom."

"And he's had plenty of fluids?"

"Of course, even if we've had to force it down his throat sometimes."

"Well, it sounds like you've been taking care of him pretty well, but I think I should come down to check just in case. I don't like the sound of that vertigo and heart rate. What's your address?"

After giving her the address, he dialled up the Thousand Sunny. An excited-sounding voice picked up. "Helloooo?"

"Is this the Thousand Sunny?"

"That it is!"

"I've been told that Monkey D Luffy has classes here. Is that correct?"

"That's right! He's signed on for classes Tuesday and Thursday evenings, as well as all day Saturday. He's been excused for the past week since he's moving but he should be back soon, if you want to leave him a message —"

"No, no, that's fine," Law rubbed his temple, a little appalled at how much information the man had volunteered about Luffy at just the mention of his name. "Actually, he's moving in with me. I just called to tell you that he's sick, so you may have to push back your expected date of him rejoining your class."

"I understand completely! It's a shame, though, that kid is always getting sick."

"Thank you. Good bye."

"See ya! Have a super day!"

"So we hear this explosion, right? And the next thing I know I'm covered in glitter and the chicken has no head. But chickens don't die right away when you cut off their heads, so it's running around getting its chicken blood everywhere, and now I'm covered in that, too! Now, Ace is outside, banging on the window with a flagpole of all things, and who walks in right then but the Prime Minister!"

"He's already heard the Norway story, you know," Law interrupted.

Nami shot an irritated look at the recently returned Law and huffed. "He hasn't heard it from my perspective."

"I called his doctor," he informed. "She'll be over soon to check on him."

She furrowed her brow in confusion. "Is that really necessary? I mean, it seems like just a regular bug to me."

"Well," Law paused and took a deep breath. How am I supposed to say this? Careful not to step on the many clothes strewn haphazardly about the floor, he strode to the other side of the room and took a seat on Luffy's bed. "About Luffy… This is something his friend told me around a week ago, when I asked him why he insisted on disinfecting the counters before cooking. It's because…" He swallowed. "The thing is, Luffy was born premature. As in, very premature — not too premature, obviously, or he wouldn't be here at all today — and as a result, his immune system isn't as strong… as it should be. He gets sick easier and more often than most people, the illness will affect him harsher, and it's harder for him to get better. It's better now than when he was a kid — Sanji told me he once almost died from a cold — but it's still pretty bad. The doctor's coming over to make sure that this doesn't have the potential to really hurt him."

"I — Oh."

The temperature in the room seemed to drop a few degrees.

"Does — Does Ace know?" Nami asked.

"Well of course he does! …I think."

"What do you mean you think?"

"I kind of assumed that Sanji told him too, but when I think about it, he really doesn't act like he knows."

"…You better tell him, before he decides he should take Luffy outside in the rain to jump in puddles."

"Yeah."

A/N: Finally done! I'm sorry about the wait, guys. Anyway, I've been planning this reveal since sometime after posting chapter two (Which was what, January?) and the way it happened continuously changed, but I think I like the way it came out. Thoughts?